Travel photography. Romance. Love

Norway: Let’s Go Chasing Waterfalls

Our Norway trip started with a bang by almost missing our flight from Copenhagen, Denmark to Bergen, Norway. I’ll admit it… It was definitely my fault🙋. I was buying postcards for our families and didn’t realize they started boarding our flight.

I arrived at the terminal and we quickly took off. A short flight later, we landed in Norway (country #4 on my initial top 5 travel list!). Occasionally when I would get bored at work or needed something to help to pass the time I would research the Fjords of Norway. I would research all the incredible things we could do there… Hiking, kayaking, climbing … The options were endless. Unfortunately, a few weeks before our trip Dan broke his hand. So with him in a cast we didn’t partake in the water adventures or climbing adventures they had to offer. (Maybe next time 😉

The moment the plane landed it started pouring. We got off the plane and immediately bought Dan a rain jacket to keep his cast dry. The cashier was super nice and gave us a bag that was waterproof and lasted all trip! It’s pictured in almost ALL of our pictures… mostly with Dan because he carries #ALLthethings when we travel. (Can you see why he’s my favorite?)

We navigated our way out of the terminal and walked straight to the information desk to ask about a taxi. She laughed at us and said, “the bus is much cheaper.” Dan and I looked at each other and shrugged. I decided we should take the bus, it seemed simple enough–> and they speak English very well there if we needed help!

Thank God we took the bus. It was around 20 Euro for two of us and a taxi would have been around 100 Euro. We arrived at our stop and it continued to rain. I had packed my Lulu jacket (this one is on sale!!!–> Lululemon In Flux Jacket ) as a light layer since the weather sounded like it would be relatively warm with scattered showers. Let me tell you water resistant and waterproof are two VERY different things! This jacket is perfect if it’s spring or fall but I wouldn’t recommend it for your trip to a rainy place. Between the temperature drop to the 50’s and the rain I was freezing. Dan ended up buying me a wool zip-up sweater to keep me warm ( I wore it almost every day we were there) and a water PROOF jacket. Those two items were lifesavers this trip! To say we under packed is an understatement.

Our hotel was tucked away just off of the Bergen harbor. The elevators were so cool. The doors were simply a glass door on each level. Don’t lean against the wall that’s moving!–> check out the pic below of Dan in the elevator!
Bergen was by far my favorite city in Norway. It’s small town feel and harbor created such a cozy place tucked away in the fjord. I was fighting a Dramamine hangover so we stopped for coffee first because… Priorities. Coffee is always first. Starbucks was the first thing I spotted as we got off the bus (but we were racing to our hotel…in flip flops in the freezing cold rain). We walked through town and took the advice of the desk clerk and ate sushi at NAMA for dinner. Never in my life have I had sushi this incredible! (But I’m willing to keep traveling to find out if it’s the best in the world! 😉)
One thing we noticed right away about Norway is how gorgeous the people were. Dan and I are not the jealous…type thank goodness because honestly we were shocked with the lucky genes these people have. Our waitress (who was definitely a 10 on the hot scale) was the sweetest! When she found out we got married that morning in Denmark she brought us free tuna and champagne. She also insisted on bringing us Creme brûlée for dessert. It’s amazing how being polite and kind to people goes a long way, in countries all over the world.
With our bellies packed with sushi and our hearts full, we strolled along the harbor. We were originally going back to the hotel. However, then we walked by a bar that had live music and I talked Dan into “just one drink.” The place was super crowded and all the tables were full. We glanced around and this beautiful blonde asked us if we would like to join them at their table. Hanna and Sebastian were a couple from Sweden visiting family in Norway. They were hilarious. We enjoyed a few “just one drinks”… and laughed with them about their recent Trolltunga hike. It was on my “must do list” for Norway but quickly fell off the list when Dan broke his right hand. After hearing Hanna’s version of how their hike/rock climbing went in terrible weather, I’m so glad we postponed that hike until next time we visit! It was getting super late and we had to be up early to pick up our Norway in a Nutshell self-guided tour tickets the next morning. We hugged our new friends goodbye and promised to put Sweden on our travel list.
The next morning we took an express boat to Rosendal. It was a quiet little town tucked away in the Hardangerfjord, with lots of waterfalls around it. I have never seen this many waterfalls in my life! We spent most of our Norway trip chasing waterfalls and trying to catch a picture of them as we were on boats, buses, and trains. Our boat arrived and we chose t0 hike to the biggest waterfall near us. Dan is by far the rule follower between the two of us. As we approached the hike we had to open a gate that fenced in a bunch of sheep grazing in the pasture. It was so funny watching him contemplate “breaking the rules”. When really…. they just hike around things like that here. There was a cute little family hiking right behind us. The little kids were all wearing rain boots (in hindsight should have packed my Hunters). Instead, Dan and I were puddle jumping on and off throughout the hike in our sneakers.
We ate lunch and caught a bus to Loftus. We stayed at an adorable hotel that looked like a red barn. It was set up similar to a hostel with shared bathroom/shower area. We had a private room with only beds and a sink. A hot shower and laying in bed after such a long hike felt amazing. I slept so hard! For your enjoyment here are our Norway pictures from the first few days we were there. I look forward to finishing our Norway Adventure in my next post!

Pack WARM and WATERPROOF!

Love, Jenny

Bergen, Norway

The elevator door!

Rosendal, Norway

Loftus, Norway

With breathtaking views like this, you just can’t take your eyes away.

Our Loftus hotel:

The view from our room. Sleeping next to this water rushing by was so soothing.

Walking to our next connection… Another Express boat! Passing the time with a little Yoga. Getting workouts in on the road is so important.